Racing notebook

Hornish still shaken after head-on crash

Two-time IRL champion Sam Hornish was still shaken Wednesday, a day after he slammed a stock-car nosefirst into the wall at Daytona International Speedway.

Hornish wasn’t injured in the wreck during Tuesday’s practice session for the International Race of Champions Series’ opening event Friday. He made contact with another driver and hit the Turn 1 wall.

“It was the most scared I’ve ever been in a race car,” he said. “The car started to come around, and I tried to correct it and went straight into the wall. It was the hardest hit I’ve ever had at that angle.”

Hornish said the impact bent his steering wheel and pushed the engine in 21/2 feet. He had scrapes and bruises and said he was stiff and sore Wednesday.

“Anytime you hit headfirst in any kind of car, it’s going to hurt,” he said. “I don’t know if it would have felt any different in an Indy car or this car.”

Improvements coming for Formula One series

An all-new car and engine combination has raised expectations on the Sauber team in Formula One.

“We’ve used a completely new design approach in creating this vehicle,” said Willy Rampf, the team’s technical director. “Compared to its predecessor, we’re expecting it to offer significantly higher potential that we can exploit throughout the season.”

The power will come from a 2002 version of the Ferrari V10, which Sauber leases from the reigning Formula One champions and has renamed the Petronas engine.

Nick Heidfeld, who will team with Heinz-Harald Frentzen as the Sauber drivers this season, said the new C22 car “is new in practically every detail. In testing, the car has been absolute perfection from the start.”

Frentzen said the C22 “has excellent balance, and it responds to any changes in the setup exactly the way I expect as a driver. I’m convinced that this car has very high potential.”

Sauber is hoping to improve on its fourth- and fifth-place finishes in the constructors’ championship in 2001 and 2002.

“It is our goal to play a key role among teams chasing the top three,” team owner Peter Sauber said.

Harvick learns lessons from 2002 problems

Kevin Harvick, Winston Cup’s top rookie in 2001, struggled through a difficult season that included being banned from a race and placed on probation by NASCAR midway through last year.

The 27-year-old driver knew one more angry outburst could mean missing a lot more races, so he reined in his temper and was very careful to stay out of trouble on the track.

“I learned that you can’t race when you are in trouble,” Harvick said. “I put myself in that spot and had to race with one arm behind my back pretty much all year. You just can’t race that way. These guys are all too good.”